Lieutenant Colonel Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s incoming Director of National Intelligence, has previously spoken out against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In a 2020 video, she affirmed that: “Erdoğan is not our friend”.
Director of National Intelligence, @TulsiGabbard 💯
“Turkey’s Erdogan is not our friend.” pic.twitter.com/Plw6jjzM9R
— Diliman Abdulkader (@D_abdulkader) November 14, 2024
In fact, this is not the only time Gabbard has publicly criticised Erdoğan. She fought in the US army in its 2003 invasion of Iraq, and has built her popularity on the back of a ‘war on terror’ narrative. This is the source of her critique of Erdoğan’s pro-ISIS policies. Another of her past social media posts proclaimed:
“Erdogan has been helping Daesh [ISIS] for years. He denied it, but now he is openly using his terrorists. He’s a radical Islamist megalomaniac who wants to be the Caliph.”
Elham Ahmad, Co-chair of the Department of Foreign Relations of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, celebrated Gabbard’s appointment on social media, highlighting her commitment to Kurdish issues. Ahmad posted on X:
Gabbard, who was previously the Democratic representative for Hawaii and a presidential candidate, criticised Trump’s green-light for Turkey’s 2019 invasion into northern Syria. She said at the time that Trump was: “really laying out a red-carpet, a green light for Erdoğan and Turkey to launch an ethnic cleansing and offensive against the Kurds.”
In another video, Gabbard accused Trump of lying to the US public. She said:
“Trump lied. He allowed the Turkish invasion. The Kurds must be protected against the Turkish genocide. You cannot cede Kurdish lands to the Turkish state. The Kurds are our friends.”
Gabbard left the Democrats and joined the Republican Party in 2024, prior to Trump’s election victory. It remains to be seen whether she will maintain her stance on Erdoğan and the Kurds in the future.
Gabbard has been criticised for meeting with Syrian President President Bashar al-Assad, despite evidence of his war crimes against the Syrian people. She responded to criticism by rival Democrats over her meeting with Assad by saying “he’s a brutal dictator, just like Saddam Hussein”.
